PRESS RELEASE

June 15, 2005

American University of Armenia Corporation
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Telephone: (510) 987-9452
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Contact: Gohar Momjian
E-mail: gohar@auac.net

AUA Helps Establish Regional Ophthalmic Unit in Sevan

Yerevan – The Ararat-1 Lions Club and the Garo Meghrigian Eye Institute for
Preventive Ophthalmology (GMEIPO) of the Center for Health Services Research
and Development, American University of Armenia, in conjunction with the
Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia, hosted the opening of the
Lions Regional Ophthalmic Unit in Sevan on June 11, 2005.

The Lions Regional Ophthalmic Unit is part of an integrated project
supported by the Lions Club International Foundation SightFirst grant to
strengthen ophthalmologic services throughout the region and to serve as a
model for sustainable, community-based primary eye care and a blindness
prevention system.

The Unit was renovated and equipped according to World Health Organization
(WHO) standards and the core staff, including one ophthalmologist and two
ophthalmic nurses, was trained on new methods of diagnostics and treatment
at the Lions Aravind Institute for Community Ophthalmology in India. The
Lions Regional Ophthalmic Unit will focus on cataract surgery, the main
blinding condition in Armenia, according to the GMEIPO~Rs population-based
survey and Armenia~Rs Ministry of Health statistics.

In support of the Unit, 10 village examination centers were established in
village ambulatories in the Gegharkunik region. The centers will provide
primary eye care and screening services by nurses that completed a training
session conducted by the GMEIPO, with support from the Jinishian Memorial
Fund. Within 2 years, approximately 20,000 people aged 50 and over from the
Gegharkunik region will receive free ophthalmic examinations. An estimated
1,000-1,500 cataract surgeries will be conducted, many for free or at
substantially reduced prices.

~SThis project is the outcome of a partnership that has been forged to
provide needed eye care services to the poor people of the Gegharkunik
region. It is a unique event and I have every confidence that it will be a
great success,~T said Dr. Para, WHO/Geneva Consultant Ophthalmologist.

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The American University of Armenia is registered as a non-profit educational
organization in both Armenia and the United States and is affiliated with
the Regents of the University of California. Receiving major support from
the AGBU, AUA offers instruction leading to the Masters Degree in eight
graduate programs. For more information about AUA, visit

Photo 1 (left to right): AUA Director of Center for Health Services and
Research (CHSR) , Dr. Michael Thompson, AUA President, Dr. Haroutune
Armenian, Silva Gevorgyan, Grant Administrator of Ararat-1 Lions Club
International, and Mikael Antonyan, Project Committee Member and Member of
Ararat-1 Lions Club International

Photo 2: A plaque on the wall of the Sevan Regional Ophthalmic Unit (near
the main entrance)

Photo 3: back row (left to right) Varduhi Petrosyan, Associate Director,
CHSR; Dr. Michael Thompson, Director, CHSR; front row (left to right):
Ovsanna Najaryan, Operations Manager, Garo Meghrigian Eye Institute for
Preventive Ophthalmology (GMEIPO); Lilit Kirakosyan, Ophthalmic Consultant,
GMEIPO; Varsik Hakobyan, Ophthalmic Consultant, GMEIPO; Naira Khachatryan,
Principal Investigator, GMEIPO